The Fool's Path
by haganenohono
Summary: When Ed sacrificed himself,he didn't expect to be spat out into the middle of one of SG1's escape attempts from Ba'al.Now between goaulds after him and scientists wanting to study him,can Ed find the link between the Gates in order to return home? FMA SG1
1. Chapter 1

_**Warning: Ed has a foul mouth. If that offends you, don't read.**_

A/N: Behold the magnificence of this fic! Not really, but I do like it so far. I was looking around the web and there was an appalling lack of this type of crossover. So I decided to give it a shot. I'm not sure which fandom it's going to end up under in the future, and so far the story has been mainly written from the PoV of SG-1 (that should change in the future when Ed isn't so out of it). But as I'm more in touch with the FMA fan-society I decided to go with it instead, at least for now. Especially since the likelihood of me messing up some technical jargon and storyline point with SG-1 is rather larger than with FMA. So please, don't flame me about where it should be, hopefully you understand where I'm coming from here. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA nor SG-1.

**P.S.—If anyone can tell me the correct amount of discovered elements in the Stargate universe I'd be immensely grateful! I'll send you cyber donuts!**

_**Chapter 1**_

"Get over there and start dialing that stargate, Daniel!" Jack yelled, turning back around to continue shooting at the enemy Jaffa coming up behind them.

It was only supposed to be a routine world check. And for a while everything seemed in order. They had sent m.a.l.p. in to check the planetary conditions which came back positive to viable conditions and used the camera to check for enemy guards. They then proceeded with caution and crossed over, immediately doing a scout of the area. Everything as a-okay…

Then Daniel _had_ to push the button.

Ok, he didn't really push a button, but _damn_ did he really _have_ to touch that particular crystal? Next thing they knew the whole room activated, alerting what appears to have been an underground Gould run excavation. Now here they were, once again running for their lives, trying to take out as few Jaffa as possible because it might tarnish their 'good guy' image.

So again O'Neill wondered—did Daniel _have_ to touch it?

Said individual was currently making a mad dash towards the dial to follow orders—

Then the stargate began power up.

"Uhh… Jack?" said Daniel, taking several steps back.

Jack turned and saw the problem.

"Damn!" he cursed.

Suddenly, the blurb of light burst out. But instead of the usual watery-blue of the wormhole it was a blinding blue-white light that crackled with electric energy that spat out a few bolts, taking out several Jaffa in the process.

But even more disturbingly, the wormhole lost the blue-while light to plunge into a pure inky blackness, looking like a black hole in the middle of this noon-day world.

And for a moment, Jack could have sworn he'd seen a small, inky black hand reach out before it was quickly sucked back in.

Everyone, Tauri and Jaffa alike had stopped to watch this phenomenon.

Just as they were starting to settle back into their skin, thinking that perhaps it was a mere malfunction, the gate spat out a single laser-ray of the blue-white light that slowly widened to a sizeable hole in the blackness.

And out of this hole fell a short boy.

Jack blinked. All that for… that?!

But before he could sort out his thoughts he felt a hard whack on the back of his head, making his vision swim. Obviously the jaffa had gotten over their shock quicker than SG-1.

'Who was that kid?' Jack thought just before he lost consciousness from the blow to his head.

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O'Neill came to at some point on the walk back to the ruins. As soon as the jaffa realized this they dropped him roughly on his feet, jabbing him painfully with a staff weapon as he stumbled. He just managed to catch a glimpse of the golden haired boy who was slung over one jaffa's shoulder. He didn't appear to have woken up yet.

As they neared their destination O'Neill noticed the presence of a ship that had not been there before. And as they got closer, he felt like a stone had been dropped into his stomach.

It was one of Ba'al's personal ships.

"Shit.." he moaned, earning himself another hit in the head.

'I'm going to need a CAT scan after all this is through,' he though, glancing back at the jaffa. As he did, he noticed a crease in the brow of the mysterious boy.

The kid was waking up.

They had reached the ship and quickly barded via transport ring, then were moved directly into the 'throne room' or the ship.

Where sat in all his dark, gloomy glory Ba'al…

Immediately, Jack had several sarcastic thoughts concerning the guy's name, none of them pleasant and many quite crude. He knew his sarcasm would get him into real trouble one of these days. But damn, he had to amuse himself _somehow_…

Ba'al came down from his seat to stand before SG-1, and specifically the Colonel.

"Colonel O'Neill, we meet again. How… unpleasant," he said in that two toned voice with his trademark smirk.

"The feeling's mutual," said O'Neill with a quirky grin of his own.

Ba'al gave a dark chuckle before he turned back away from SG-1.

"Once again we find ourselves in this situation. And once again, being the merciful god that I am, I lend you this offer—tell me what you were doing here and what you know about these ruins and I will forgive you before your very belated death."

"How kind," sneered O'Neill. Otherwise no one said a word.

"My Lord, there was another who came through the chappa'ai in a most unusual manner," said the jaffa holding the kid, laying said boy at the gouald's feet.

It was then that Jack noticed something. When he had seen the silver glints he had thought that it might be some kind of armor. But upon closer view his arm appeared to actually be _made_ of…

"Metal," he heard Carter breath in wonder beside him, seeming just as stunned as him.

Ba'al's eyebrow quirked as he knealt by the still unconscious boy. "Interesting… why was it so unusal?"

The jaffa proceeded to describe the reaction of the wormhole prior to the blonde's exit. As the jaffa's story grew, Ba'al's interest did as well.

As the warrior ended Ba'al turned back to the boy, taking in the strong metal arm and the

lean muscles. Whoever the kid was, he was well built, if a bit feminine.

"Interesting indeed," said Ba'al, taking the kid's chin in his hand and turning it to both sides. "He is strong, and rather attractive. He would make an excellent host…"

Jack felt his temper rising…

"Though he is a bit short," concluded Ba'al.

_No one_ was prepared for what happened next.

The boy's eyes immediately snapped open, revealing sharp eyes of brilliant gold, an eye color though impossible for those of the human race. Even the gouald fell back away quickly, stunned by the sight.

But that was _nothing_ compared to what happened next.

The blonde was up on his feet in a millisecond, his strange golden eyes flashing.

"WHO DID YOU CALL SO SMALL HE COME'S KNEE-HIGH TO A FLEA?!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Then he did something that would earn itself a place of honor in the memories of SG-1 forever.

He spun around, landing a hard spin kick directly to Ba'al's head with his left leg, sending the gouald sprawling backwards onto the floor.

The jaffa and SG-1 could only stand there in shock. Had they _actually_ just seen that? Did this… vertically challenged kid just send one of the most powerful System Lords flying back on his ass?

Jack couldn't restrain a bark of laughter.

Again the jaffa had to shake of their shock before they could move, rushing forward to restrain the kid.

"Hey! What are you bastards doing? Get the fuck off me assholes!" he yelled.

As the kid continued to cuss out the jaffa in many colorful and inventive ways, O'Neill felt his liking for the kid go up another notch.

But it didn't look like Ba'al was quite so amused. He had staggered back to his feet, and as he approached the blonde he backhanded him.

"Kneel to your god and beg for forgiveness!" yelled Ba'al.

The kid slowly rose his head to meet Ba'al's eyes, and Jack felt the steel daggers hidden in that glare. It was a glare that no kid should have.

"I kneel to no man, and I will not beg," growled the boy. "And I _don't_ believe in god."

Beside him he could feel both Carter and Daniel shiver.

"Then I shall have to enlighten you," said Ba'al, bringing up a palm with a hand device covering it. The device glowed and struck the boy in the chest.

They saw the kid flinch and grind his teeth, but otherwise he didn't make a sound.

This only served to infuriate Ba'al more, who growled ferally before increasing the power hitting his victim. A noise threatened to bubble up from the blonde, but they watched as it was quickly choked back.

"Beg to your god!" yelled Ba'al in fury.

Though his breathing was labored, the kid managed to grind out a growled, "I will not beg! And this is _nothing_ compared to his pain…"

As the length the kid was held under the torturous device dragged on with not so much as a yelp from the kid, the liking he had felt earlier grew to a kind of respect. Not even _he_ had been able to last this long under the device without making a noise. But it also made him wonder what the kid had endured to allow him such resistance to pain. And whose pain had been worse?

Finally Jack could take no more.

"Hey, Ba'al! Quit toying with the kid! Pick on someone your own size!"

By the unconscious tick taking place on the kid's eyebrow, Jack had a sneaking suspicion that, had he not been near comatose from pain, he would have lunged at Jac for the comment on his size.

But it seemed to have work, drawing Ba'al's attention away from the kid and back on O'Neill. Unfortunately, Jack got a sinking feeling as he saw Ba'al glance back and forth between the kid and himself before he sent Jack a bone chilling grin.

"Ah yes… I seem to remember you have a bit of a soft sport for children…"

The sinking feeling grew as he turned away and towards the kid, running his hand through some of the blonde locks that had fallen out of the braid.

"Tell me your name, child," said Ba'al, sounding all the world like a kind benefactor and not the torturous murder he was.

It took a moment, but the blonde gave a quiet answer—

"Go fuck yourself, you freaky-voiced son-of-a-bitch."

Jack felt like giving the kid a salute right then and there.

Ba'al snorted, "Very well…"

He raised his hand to the kid's head—

"Don't!" yelled Carter.

Ba'al's eyes flicked to her with narrowed eyes.

"And why shouldn't I?" he growled.

She didn't answer. There really wasn't any reason they could come up with that would appeal to a gouald.

Ba'al hesitated for a moment before snapping at the guards, "Jaffa! Take the boy to a cell! I'll deal with him later!"

The jaffa nodded as they forced the blonde to his feet, all but dragging him out of the room.

Slowly Ba'al turned his attentions back to SG-1.

"Now where were we…" he said, raising the device to O'Neill's chest. "Ah yes, now I remember…"

And despite his best efforts, Jack couldn't bite back a scream.

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An hour later SG-1 was being hauled off to a cell, Jack having to be virtually carried between two jaffa. As they reached it they were thrown in, hearing the door lock into place behind them. 

Carter crawled her way through the dark room as her eyes adjusted, trying to find where she last saw the Colonel. "Sir? Are you alright?"

"Just peachy, Carter. Peachy…"

"There's no reason to be like that, Jack," said Daniel.

"Then how would you have me be Daniel? Sitting down singing Kumbaya? Wanna get the jaffa to come back in and join us?"

"I'm just saying you could be a little nicer—"

"Could you _both_ shut the hell up? My head hurts," said a quiet voice at the side of the room.

The four team mates turned toward the side of the room. There, hanging by his wrists where they were shackled to the wall, was the kid from earlier. The others slowly edged their way toward him.

"Hey kid, how you feelin'?" asked O'Neill.

Jack caught a glimpse of a grin before the kid said, "Peachy, just peachy…"

Daniel snorted and Carter couldn't help but smile. Jack quirked an eyebrow in a motion he learned from Teal'c who was sitting off to the side observing the kid.

"Ha, ha… glad you retained your sense of humor. I suppose that means you're still sane…"

"As much as I ever was, though that's still in debate."

"I know the feeling kid, I know the feeling…"

"Stop calling me 'kid'," growled the blonde as he clenched his fists.

"Then give me something else to call you, Blondie. What's your name?"

At first Jack didn't think he was going to respond, then he heard a soft, "Edward. My name is Edward Elric."

"Edward Elric? The name implies Germanic origin," said their resident linguist. "What planet do you come from, Edward?"

At this Edward's nose scrunched up. "Planet? What do you mean 'planet'?"

"You passed through the stargate," said Carter. "What planet did you travel from?"

There was a pause before Edward questioned again, "What the _hell_ is a stargate? I didn't pass through a _star_ gate…"

"But you did pass through a gate," said Daniel, catching the emphasis on 'star'.

At this the boy tensed and refused to meet their eyes. Teal's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"It would probably be in your best interest to trust us, Edward," said Jack.

"And why would I do something stupid like that?" Edward sneered.

"Because we're all you have," said Jack.

Jack's words seemed to have struck a chord in Edward because he tensed briefly again before his shoulders slumped slowly in defeat. Jack suddenly felt bad. What had he said that hurt?

"Yes," Edward said quietly, still not raising his head. "I passed through a gate… _the_ Gate… but it has _nothing_ to do with stars…"

"What kind of gate was it?" asked Carter.

Edward paused before he answered, "The Gate of Truth… The Gate of Knowledge… the Gate of Death…"

Daniel felt something like a memory twitch in his brain. It was similar to the feeling he got when he was on the verge of remembering something from his time as an Ascended. But what was it?

"The Gate of Truth, huh? What did this 'Gate' look like?" asked Jack.

"It's a gateway of stone against a white, hazy background. Pictures of pain are engraved around the sides with an all-seeing eye upon the door. Inside is nothing but darkness, where demon-children of trapped souls and shadows with bright eyes stare at you, and pull you in if you stray too close," said Edward.

If the look on Edward's face hadn't been so serious they might have thought he was pulling a joke. But no, he meant every word.

"It's the Gate that separates our two worlds and controls the flow of energy. And it's the Gate that's supposed to keep idiots like me in their place."

"How did you get to this Gate?" asked Daniel.

Edward finally looked up into their eyes and said, "You don't want to know." And in that moment Jack could see the haunted look they possessed, and he had to wonder about that comment on the boy's sanity. And again Jack was struck by the _wrongness_ that a kid's eyes should have that look, like he had seen all the sins of the world…

They all jumped as the door to their cell opened again. Two jaffa walked in and began undoing Edward's restraints. As soon as he was free he slumped down and rolled, moving to sweep a leg under the jaffa to trip him up.

Unfortunately the jaffa had been expecting resistance and swiftly jumped the leg, moving to pin the boy down. In a second two others were there to help drag the kid out and another trained a weapon on Sg-1, preventing them from helping Edward. Just before he was hauled off, the kid shot a look back into the room, locking with Jack's. And in that moment they had an understanding.

_Wait for me_, his eyes said. And Jack intended to.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **

**A/N: Ok, quick question. If you there were to be _any_ pair ups, either with FMA characters (all of them included) or Stargate characters, who would you like to see together, how and under what circumstances? All pairings, het or yaoi (and I guess yuri, though I've never written that before and I don't tend to read it) are accepted. But just because one kind of vote out weighs another doesn't mean it will get used. I'm just searching around for ideas. **


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

A/N: Again I ask you to bear with me, we _will_ eventually get to Ed's PoV, but not for a bit. Then it's going to go back and forth. Also, I realize there were many mistakes in the last chapter, I just _really_ don't feel like going through all that again. It was bad enough with trying to wrack my brain for a title and summary. On top of that, I had to find some explanation for something I have written but I had forgotten about the logic involved with it. About two hours of net surfing later, I finally found my answer.

**P.S.: If anyone is interested in being a beta for the Stargate portion of this, please inform me. Understand though that the updates will be sporadic and late at best. I'm on academic probation this semester and won't be able to devote nearly so much time to writing fanfiction as I would like.**

Now, on with the show…

_**Chapter 2**_

What seemed like an eternity later, but was really only a couple of hours, SG-1 heard the stomps of booted feet and the sound of doors being opened. Soon the jaffa soldiers reappeared, dragging a limp Edward between them. But something was… _different_ this time. Instead of the rough manhandling of earlier the jaffa were almost… _gentle_ with the blonde. The jaffa muttered something between themselves in their language that caused both Teal'c and Daniel's eyebrows to shoot up. The jaffa deposited Edward by the wall, carefully securing him his restraints before moving back out of the cell, shooting glances back at the kid.

"Okaay… anyone want to enlighten me as to what _that_ was?" asked Jack.

"It would appear that Edward Elric has earned the respect of several of Ba'al's jaffa," said Teal'c, eyeing the chained blonde in curiosity.

"Oh really? How did that happen?"

"He was tortured by Ba'al for the last two hours without crying out once," said Daniel, a mix of horror and respect mixed in his voice.

There was a pause as SG-1 considered this and the short blonde chained to the wall.

"Damn," said Jack, breaking the tension. "He's a tough little bastard, I'll give him that."

"Not… little…" came a growled out response from the wall.

"Oh my god! He's still conscious!" said Carter, rushing over to check the kid's vitals.

Edward raised his head, giving SG-1 a loot at his unfocused gaze, which still packed a punch. His eyes slid over to Carter, then suddenly widened in hazy shock.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" asked Edward, hope clear in his voice.

Sam blanched. Lieutenant? Had this kid met a SG team before? But for the life of her she couldn't remember a lieutenant named Hawkeye…

"No, I'm Major Samantha Carter. I'm sorry…"

Edward blinked in confusion then shook his head, as if trying to clear a fog. Which, judging by his confused statement earlier, was very likely. When he looked back up again it was with a sharper gaze. And as he looked again at Carter they could see him visually slump again in his chains.

"I'm sorry. You just look a lot like a… friend of mine…"

"That's alright," Sam said with a smile.

Silence came over them. After a moment the kid rolled his neck, popping several bones, before he began to look around the room. "About time we start trying to get out of here, don't you think? I don't enjoy the thought of another 'session' with that jack ass."

"Couldn't say it better myself," said Jack with a grin.

"Speaking of which—what the hell did he mean by 'host'?" asked Edward.

That stopped SG-1 in their track.

"Why do you ask?" asked Daniel cautiously.

"Because just before they drug my ass back in here I heard him mention something about turning me into one… Said it would take a few hours to 'ready for the ritual' or some shit…"

"Oh hell no. But we'll explain more about that when we get out of here," said Jack, determined now more than ever to get out, if just to keep on more kid out of the snake-head's hands.

"Agreed. Do any of you have something sharp? Or just something metal?" asked Edward, sitting up.

"I have an eyeglass screwdriver, why?" asked Daniel.

"Just an experiment. If it works it will make getting out a helluva lot easier."

Daniel fished out the small screw driver and Edward instructed for him to put it in his left hand. They heard the sound of metal scraping against metal and Edward concentrated on whatever he was doing, his eyes closed. Daniel looked and saw a picture of a circle with a strange geometric design on the inside being formed.

"What are you—?"

"There, done," sighed Edward. "Now let's see if this works…"

They saw Edward run a finger over the strange pictograph.

Then suddenly bright blue light like what they had seen back at the gate shown for a split second and when it dissipated, SG-1 was left gaping as Edward pulled his arm free of the destructed manacles.

"How—How did you—?"

"I'll explain later," he said, twisting around to repeat the process on the other cuff. As soon as the chains were not supporting him he fell down to his knees. Daniel and Jack tried to help him up but he waved them off.

"I'm fine, just give me a second…" And slowly, using the wall for support, he pulled himself up to his feet and started moving towards the door. But instead of drawing another of the circle-thingies, he clapped his hands then placed them against the door. The blue light crackled like electricity around the door before the whole thing glowed blue, molding itself into a different shape. When the light subsided, a hole had been made in the door.

"Wow," said Daniel, his lips forming an 'o' shape as he observed.

"You know kid, I think we could become fast friends, you and I," Jack said, nodding. "You beat the shit out of Ba'al, make escaping easy, and shut Daniel up," Jack said jerking a thumb back at the stunned linguist. "Yup, that _definitely_ puts you in my good book."

"Don't worry, it won't last long," said Edward with a grin. "I have a knack for pissing people off. And judging by Major Carter's title and all of your uniforms, I'd say you're military dogs. That's already two strikes."

"I take it you have a problem with military?" asked Daniel. Jack was pouting after being called a dog.

"Not so much the military per se, so much as the authorities involved. Too much bullshit and power games for my liking. Besides, I don't like being told what to do."

Jack nodded with a smile, "Funny thing! So do I! The reason I kept getting transferred between CO's in my earlier years. At least I think that's why…"

"You sound like you've had experience with it," said Carter.

"Yeah, but that's a story for another time. You guys coming or what?"

"Sounds good to me. Move out!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The area around the stargate was quiet. The two jaffa standing guard now at the gate moved back and forward between their two feet. One, breaking all code of conduct, even yawned.

Then they heard the explosion.

The jaffa straightened. What was that? They went on their guard, hefting their staff weapons into alert position.

Then an odd sound reached them…

"Yaaach! What the hell was that?!"

"Whatever it was you did must have caused an unstable reaction!"

"What the hell was in that metal to cause an unstable reaction?!"

"It could be anything! There's over **250** (**see ch. 1 p.s.)** elements!"

"Over 250?! I thought there were 236?!"

"Could we _not_ discuss this while we're running for our lives?! Damn scientists!"

"Hey!"

Finally whoever was speaking rounded an area of bushes. The jaffa immediately recognized the group as the prisoners taken to Lord Ba'al earlier that day. They raised their staff weapons and began to shoot.

A short blonde tuck and rolled to avoid the shot.

"Ne! What's the big ide-Ah!" again he dodged, narrowly avoiding the jet of light that just singed the ends of his hair.

"Carter! Take care of the kid—" yelled Jack.

But before either of them could do anything the teen let out a growl of annoyance and lept forward attacking the first jaffa.

"Edward--!"

Fortunately, this seemed to catch the jaffa by surprise, giving Edward an initial advantage. He landed two spinning kicks in quick succession followed up with a flow to the stomach with his metal hand that caused the warrior to double up and fall to the ground retching. But before Edward could take out the other guard he had his staff weapon powered up and raised.

"Dodge!" yelled Jack.

As soon as Edward realized that it was a shooting weapon, he growled, "Shit!" Jumping back into several backward handsprings that would have made a cheerleader proud in order to avoid the blasts.

With Edward distracting the jaffa Teal'c grabbed the discarded staff weapon dropped by the now unconscious jaffa and quickly shot the other guard, ending the fight.

Edward landed from his last flip at a squat, still on alert for an attack.

"Nice work there shorty," said Jack. "Are you a gymnast or something?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE'S IMPOSSIBLE TO TARGET?!"

"I have no clue what you mean," said Jack innocently. "Though that is a good point…"

Ed was about to lunge at Jack when they heard the unmistakable sound of a troop of foot soldiers herding their way.

"Colonel, could we continue this later?" asked Carter.

"Righto," said Colonel O'Neill, turning back around to the stargate where Daniel was already dialing home.

"Hey, what's that thing?" asked Ed, motioning towards the ring.

"That would be the stargate we mentioned. And that's how we're getting home."

"What does it d—"

Edward cut off his sentence as the gate activated, letting loose the blurb of watery light with a sloshy sound.

"Whoa…" said Edward, transfixed. "How did that—"

"Explanations later," said Jack, pushing the kid towards the gate. The jaffa were just coming around the out cropping of tree, their angry cried carrying over the clearing. And judging by the look on Daniel's face, what they were saying was nothing good.

Edward seemed to catch that point as well and hurried over to the ring with SG-1.

"Just walk on through and the gate will take care of the rest," said Daniel before walking through himself.

"And it may feel a little strange at first, but it's just the stargate converting you matter," said Carter, stepping through.

"Shit, what is it with me and gates," growled Edward.

"Go ahead, Edward Elric. I and Colonel O'Neill will keep the enemy jaffa at bay," said Teal'c.

Edward vaguely reflected on the fact that it was the longest statement he had heard the dark skinned man say to him since they had all met, before taking a deep breath and plunging into the watery depths of the stargate.

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"It's SG-1, sir," said the gate technician from the control room.

"Open the iris," commanded General Hammond.

The protective barrier was opened and soon after the slosh of exiting travelers followed.

Immediately Daniel called out, "We've brought company! Don't shoot the blonde kid!"

Hammond nodded before turning to the armed soldiers to repeat the order. When he turned back Major Carter had arrived.

"He should be coming up behind me," she said before turning back to the gate.

There was a third slosh, and there on the platform stood a short, blonde haired, golden eyed boy.

'Wait—golden eyes?' thought Hammond, blinking.

Ed stood for a moment taking in the room, especially the men with the guns.

"Umm… are you guys sure we're at the right place?" he asked Daniel and Sam.

"Yes, they're just there for precaution, in case a goauld or jaffa try and follow us through."

"A what?" Ed asked.

"Those people back there that captured us. We'll explain more later."

"Oh, alright."

Just then there were two more sloshes as Jack and Teal'c crossed over.

"Close the iris!" yelled Jack.

The technician did so immediately. And a second later they heard a couple thuds, then the stargate shutting off.

"What were those sounds?" asked Edward.

"That would be the sound of someone's body being slammed against a metal covering faster than the speed of light," said Jack.

Edward's face turned a slight shade of green, but he kept the contents of his stomach.

"Welcome back, SG-1," said General Hammond, giving a salute that O'Neill and Carter quickly returned. "Care to explain what happened on what was only supposed to be a routine inspection, as well as make introductions?"

"Well sir, everything was going fine until Daniel just _had_ to touch that one damn crystal…"

"How was I supposed to know it would activate their systems?"

"Did someone never teach you to look but not touch—"

"Ehem," the General cleared his throat to bring attention back on him. Daniel had the grace to look sheepish while Jack merely grinned innocently.

Edward quirked an eyebrow. The military men's interactions reminded him of the office back home. Were all militaries eccentric like this?

"Anyway, so Daniel touched the crystal and that alerted what seems to have been a jaffa posting. We were making our escape when the gate activated and did something… funky," said Jack with an odd look on his face.

"Sir, the wormhole went from a bright blue, crackling with electricity to an inky black, like a black hole," said Carter. "And then Edward here came through unconscious."

Hammond's brow furrowed. "Do you know what caused this?"

SG-1 shook their heads, but Edward hesitantly nodded.

"You do, son?" asked Hammond.

"Sort of… I don't know how or why it happened, but the Gate of Truth and the stargate must have connected somehow as I passed through it. Their description of the reaction sounds a lot like what the inside of the Gate looks like."

"The Gate of Truth? Do you mean another stargate?"

"Nah, it's… complicated. If I'm going to have to explain it then we might as well get comfortable."

"Alright, let's move to the briefing room then. What's your name again son?"

"Edward Elric, sir."

"Umm… sir, I think before we go into debriefing we should stop by the infirmary. Especially Edward," said Daniel.

"That fine, but why him especially?"

"Because, General, Ba'al was there, personally," said Carter.

"What?"

"Yeah, we all got a bit of one-on-one attention from the snake-head, but the kid got a double dose—two hours straight," said Jack.

"No really, I'm fine—" Edward tried to say.

"Nonsense, all of you will stop by and see Dr. Frazier for a check up. If she clears you we'll meet for a debriefing. If not we'll schedule it for later. Dismissed," said Hammond, leaving in the direction of his office.

"You heard the man, let's start heading that way," said Jack, leading them towards the door. Normally he would have fought against the visit himself. But he really wanted to get the kid looked at, so if just for this time he would go along peacefully.

Said kid was grumbling audibly behind him.

"What is with people and treating me like a damn kid! I just busted their asses out of that freak's place and their still doing—"

Conscious thought became impossible however, as the adrenalin that had kept him going for the past few hours seemed to finally abandon him, causing his vision to suddenly go dark and to begin falling forward towards the floor.

Jack whipped around as he heard an urgent, "Colonel!" yelled behind him. He turned just in time to catch Edward from falling face first into the cement in a dead faint.

"Damn it!" he swore, hefting the kid into his arms, slightly disturbed that the only real weight on the kid seemed to come from his metal limb. It was also then that he noticed through he the boy's leather pants that part of the left leg was also made of metal. Quickly he jogged out of the room in the direction of the infirmary, doing his best not to jar the slight boy in his arms.

**A/N: I ought to clarify that the vote mentioned in the previous chapter not only includes romantic relationships, but also parental, mentor, brother/sister, equals type relationships and friendships. Just tell me what you like! Also, hopefully my grammar and spelling was better in this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello again! Ok, hopefully this chapter goes over well. But here's the scoop—I have two author accounts. At the time I made the second I had some things I wanted to post but I wasn't sure about them. But now that I don't care, I feel like 'coming out' so to speak. As it is, some of you guys read and review two of my stories, one on each account. So here's the deal—if you guys can figure out who my other account is, you'll get a sneak peek/clue to my other story. At the bottom are the details and a set of clues. To those who try and figure it out, good luck. And to those who don't know or don't care, hopefully you'll still enjoy this update!**

Chapter 3

Several hours later found Edward still unconscious down in the infirmary and SG-1 sitting with General Hammond in the briefing room.

"Now that you're all cleared and our guest is situated, care to explain?" asked Hammond.

"Like we said sir, we were trying to escape when the gate activated, did its thing, spat Edward our and closed back up. Then the jaffa brought us all back to Ba'al," said Jack.

"What did he want?"

"Same ol', same ol'… 'I am god—lead me to your rebel base.' You know, the usual… though I must admit, it was almost worth being tortured for an hour…"

"And why is that Colonel?"

Jack's face split into a smile and Hammond noticed the rest of SG-1 (including Teal'c) couldn't help but grin a little as well.

"Let's just say we've learned not to insult Edward's height," said Jack.

Hammond scrunched his brows in confusion and turned to Carter, who had laughed a little at Jack's comment, for clarification.

"What he means sir, is Edward landed a perfect spin kick to Ba'al's head—"

"Landing him right on his ass," finished Jack with a wicked grin.

"He then proceeded to use many of the expletives Colonel O'Neill seems fond of to curse the jaffa," said Teal'c.

"And when Ba'al asked for his name, I believe his words were, 'Go fuck yourself, you freaky-voiced son-of-a-bitch,'" quoted Daniel.

Hammond just sat for a moment, taking it in. Then he visualized the small boy he had met earlier doing all of this.

He couldn't help it. He burst into a full fit of laughter. SG-1 looked suitably shocked. It was the first time they had seen the General react so blatantly.

Finally the General's laughter died down and he wiped a couple tears from the corner fo his eyes.

"Remind me to thank that boy for the best laugh I've had in a while," said the General, shuffling through some papers, with a small smile still on his face. "Is there anything else I should know about the mission or the boy?"

"Edward Elric earned the respect of several of Ba'al's jaffa, despite his attack on the gou'ald," said Teal'c.

Hammond's eyebrows shot up. "Really? How did he manage that?"

"As we understand it, Edward didn't cry out once during Ba'al's 'ministrations'," said Daniel.

"You don't say. That's quite a feat…"

"But nothing like what he did to help us escape, sir," said Carter.

"What do you mean Major?"

"He… I really don't know what it was, sir. The first time he engraved a symbol of some sort into the metal cuffs binding his hands. Then when he touched the symbol it released a blue light and destructed the manacles. When he was free he used the same skill to create a hole in the walls, only instead of drawing a symbol he clapped his hands like this," said Carter, demonstrating.

"And you have no idea what this skill was?"

"None, sir. All I know is that it seemed to cause an unstable reaction with the metal of the ship resulting in an explosion. And as far as I can tell it wasn't a form of technology. It was almost like…" here she bit her lip.

"Almost like what, Major?"

"Magic, sir," said Carter.

Somewhere down in the infirmary, Edward twitched.

"And what of the ruins you mentioned earlier. Did you manage to gather any information before you were attacked? Perhaps why Ba'al was interested in them?"

"I didn't get much time to investigate the hieroglyphs thoroughly, and most of what I did find was things we've already gathered. Mostly about he 'God's from the Skies,' likely a reference to the gou'ald. However, there was one passage I managed to translate vaguely before I tripped the alarm that caught my attention. It claimed to know of a world with a power greater than that of the 'sky gods' which could be used to drive them away."

"Did it mention what this power was or where the world was located?" asked Hammond.

"It didn't name the power directly, but called it 'the force' or some variation of that." Off to the side Jack snickered. Daniel sent him a glare while the others attempted to squash the signs of their own amusement. Daniel continued, "Unfortunately it didn't give a description of the power itself. And as for the world—that's where it got complicated. It gave no gate address, only described it as the Fool's Path. Apparently it was considered a suicide mission to search it out. The world itself was described as a land of 'peace, prosperity, beauty and power.' Whoever gained use of the power was assured victory…"

It was then that Dr. Frazier burst into the conference with a disturbed look on her face. **(1)**

"Sir, there's something you need to see."

"Is it about our guest?"

"Yes sir, if you'd follow me…" she hurried out of the room, Hammond and SG-1 following quickly behind her.

-------------------------------------------------------

"What?!"

"You heard me Colonel, this boy has naquadah in his bloodstream. Large amounts of it, even by gou'ald standards."

"You mean he's…" said Daniel.

"That's just it," Janet said, "He isn't a host. And there are no indicators showing he ever was. No scar tissue or anything. Granted, I can't give him a CAT scan due to his metal prosthetics, which in and of themselves are remarkable, but all the other tests come back negative. To be honest, by the way it looks, he may have been born to it. And judging from the amounts I found, I'd say it also points to the possibility that he comes from a world 'loaded' with the mineral."

"But he is human," said O'Neill, trying to confirm.

"Yes, Colonel," said Janet with a patient nod.

"But if he has naquadah, when why didn't I or Ba'al sense it?" asked Carter.

"He also appears to have chemicals found in the symbiote masking drug, again natural to his body. So it's possible that they effectively masked it from you both."

"However he has several physical and genetic anomalies that I've never seen before, along with the naquadah in his system. He is usually strong. Despite his size I'd say he could give a jaffa or gou'ald a run for their money. Then there's his iris color, which still floors me as gold is _not_ a natural human eye color. And of course there are his mechanical limbs…"

"How do those work by the way? Were you able to find out?" asked Carter, ever the scientist.

"That's probably the most astounding and disturbing part. Wherever this boy is from, their prosthetics are far more advanced than Earth. From what I could gather the wires of the arm are hardwired directly into the boy's nervous system."

"But that…" Carter's eyes widened as she took in the implications of such a surgery. "That's why he has such high pain tolerance…" The others were lost.

"Umm… care to explain?"

"What she means is that it hurts like a bitch to have done. Which is one reason why few people bother to go through with it," said a voice from the bed.

The group turned to see striking gold eyes watching them.

"You know, it's rude to talk about a person behind their back," Ed said.

"Ahh… but we aren't behind your back. We're beside your bed," said Jack with a grin.

Edward rolled his eyes, "Great, another Havoc…"

"Come again?"

"Nothing," sighed Edward as he sat up in his hospital bed, swinging his legs over the side.

"Mr. Elric--," Dr. Frazier started forward, but Edward just waved her off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know hospital procedures like the back of my hand. I'll be a good boy. I just need to use the restroom."

"It's on that side of the room," said Jack, pointing in the direction of the men's room.

"Thanks," said Edward as he waved without turning around.

"Well, other than the anomalies, does the boy check out?" asked Hammond.

"Yes, he should be fine, if a bit tired for a few days. As long as he doesn't strain himself, after a week or two he should be back to normal energy levels," said Dr. Frazier.

"Are you willing to give him clearance to leave the infirmary?"

"He should be sure to go to sleep early tonight to rest but I see no problem with him leaving."

"Very well. Dr. Jackson, I want you to settle the boy into a set of guest rooms and see to it he's comfortable. I'll expect all of you in the briefing room at 1000 hours tomorrow morning. Dismissed," said Hammond. Carter and O'Neill snapped a salute which he returned before walking out of the infirmary.

"Well Danny-boy, have fun baby-sitting," said Jack, clapping a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "I in the mean time have Tivo calling my name."

"I believe I shall take time to Kel'nor'eim," said Teal'c with a nod before walking away.

"I'm going to cross reference any information concerning nerve surgery and attachments. I want to see just how far behind we are on that," said Carter with the 'scientist' gleam in her eyes before she too left.

"I have reports to file concerning my genetic findings, so I'll leave him to you," said Janet before heading into her office.

Just then Daniel heard the door to the bathroom open and out walked Edward, blinking in surprise at the lack of people in the once crowded room.

"Heh, look like it's just you and me kid."

---------------------------------

"This will be where you're staying, at least for tonight," said Daniel, flipping on the light switch.

Ed took a look around the room. 'Well, it's better than the military dorms back home.'

"Hopefully it's satisfactory," said Daniel as he watched Edward inspect the room.

"It's better than what I have back home, so yeah it's fine, thanks."

"No problem, Edward."

"Ed. Call me Ed."

"Alright, then call me Daniel," he said sticking his hand out to take Ed's. Ed smiled and shook it.

"So, would you like a tour of the base or would you rather skip directly to dinner?"

At the mention of dinner Ed's stomach gave an audible growl, demanding attention. Ed grinned sheepishly while Daniel laughed outright.

"Alright, off to the cafeteria then…"

"Daniel, is there any chance I could eat in my room?" asked Ed hesitantly. His experience with military cafeterias was that no matter the time, day or night, they were always occupied. And to be honest, he didn't feel up to dealing with other people yet. He was still reeling under everything that had already happened.

Daniel guessed as much and nodded. "Sure, that can be arranged. Interested in having some company?"

Ed shrugged his assent and Daniel went to call up the day's 'special'—Chicken Surprise.

"Chicken Surprise?" asked Ed doubtfully.

"Yeah, the surprise is just how much is really chicken. Take that for what you will. You know, I've noticed you're very well spoken when you're not yelling profanities."

Ed smirked, "Yeah, well you aren't quite as much of a nerd as you look on first sight."

"Ouch, touché. Though I think Jack would disagree with you."

"Besides, I read a lot of books, so it comes with the territory. Jack was the old guy that was with you in that bastard's place, right?"

"Yes, except I don't think he'd appreciate the 'old guy' description," said Daniel.

"Just telling it how I see it," said Edward just as there was a knock on the door.

"That would be the food," said Daniel getting the door. Sure enough it was and soon they were seated in a couple lounge chairs staring questionably at the food before them.

"Umm… why don't you try it first Edward? You were so hungry earlier…"

"Hell no! You're used to this food, you try it first!"

"No really! I insist! Guests first—"

"'Guest first' my ass! You just want to know if it's edible!"

"And you don't?"

"Fine," grumbled Edward, picking up his fork. 'Hell, if I can take on death by impalement I can take cafeteria food…'

Ed took a bite, Daniel watching closely for his reaction.

First there was none, then is face took on a green tint. Soon he was spitting everything back up onto the trays.

"Blugh! That shit had milk in it!" he screamed, scrubbing his tongue with the sleeve of the shirt they had lent him. "What are they trying to do?! Poison me?!"

"Why? Are you allergic to it?" asked Daniel, concerned.

"No, but I might as well be! That cow piss is the most disgusting shit in the world!"

Daniel turned a little green too at Edward's description. Suddenly he found his already slim appetite for the chicken-like substance vaporized.

"Is there nothing else to eat here?" asked Ed desperately, punctuated by another loud growl from his stomach region.

"Nothing on base, but maybe we could get the general to send a private to pick something up. Any preferences?"

"As long as it doesn't taste like milk I don't care."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

An hour later found Daniel and Ed once again seated, but this time around a thin cardboard box.

"What did you call this again? A pisa?"

"It's a _pizza_. And before you say anything, yes it has cheese on it, but give it the benefit of the doubt."

"I guess…" said Ed doubtfully, but he grabbed up a piece. His stomach gave a loud demanding growl at the pleasant smell. Slowly he took a bite…

Daniel watched in trepidation. If this didn't work…

Ed chewed and paused. His eyes widened…

Daniel prepared himself to duck and cover away from a fountain of spewed food—

"This stuff is delicious! What all is in it?!"

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief. He'd liked it.

"This particular kind has hand-tossed dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, olives and various herbs and spices."

"I'm going to have to learn how to make this…" muttered Edward as he inspected the pizza with a scientific eye. "And you know, you almost sounded like I do when I quote the composition of the human body. I take it you've contemplated the makings of such a pizza before?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that, " said Daniel, all the while wondering why Edward would be quoting compositions… "So Ed, how old are you anyway?"

"Sixteen, seventeen in a few months. Why?"

"Really? You don't look—err—" Daniel left off as the dark look he remembered from Ba'al's ship started to com back. "I mean, you—err—sound older. The way you talk I mean—"

The dark look lifted a bit, but Ed's eyes remained narrowed in suspicion. "Yeah, well, like I said—I read a lot," he said as he turned back to his pizza.

"What do you like to read? I might be able to find you something while you're here."

"Mostly I read research documents and books on scientific theory. Other times I'm forced to look through myths and legends."

"School assignments?" asked Daniel.

"Hell no!" said Ed with an affronted look. "I haven't been in school since before I was nine!"

"Really? Was that as far as it went, or…?"

"Nah, school continues until you're about 14 or 15, then you either go into an apprenticeship and the like or you join the military. My brother and I dropped out first to help take care of our mom because she was ill. And after she died we decided not to go back and continued our… private studies."

"Oh, I'm sorry about your mom," Daniel said quietly. "My parents both died when I was that old too. At the same time in fact. They were… crushed by an exhibit they were helping set up at a museum."

"Damn…" said Ed.

"At least you still had your father, right?" asked Daniel.

Ed snorted, "Yeah right, that bastard ditched us when I was two…"

"Did you ever see him again?"

Ed paused mid bite and he pursed his lips. One of Daniel's eyebrows quirked up a notch.

"Yeah, years later. Just recently in fact…"

"How did that go?"

Ed paused again and for a little longer this time. Daniel watched Ed's face and movements, looking for anything that could give the kid away. Everyone had something that did, whether it was a twitch, a subconscious gesture, or…

Daniel looked directly at narrowed golden orbs.

'Aha… so it's the eyes…'

He was startled at the emotion he saw in the boy's unfocused gaze. Emotion that ran the gamut from pissed, to hurt, to… sympathy?

"It was… strange," said Ed finally, unaware of just how closely he was being watched. "And neither time was under the best of circumstances…"

"How so?"

"It's difficult to explain… and if I'm going to have to go into that explanation I'd prefer to do it only once for everone."

"Does it involve that stuff you did with the light and the gate you mentioned?" asked Daniel.

Ed nodded mutely.

Daniel sighed, 'Dammit, and I was getting answers too…'

But right then Edward yawned and rubbed his eyes, tiredly. Checking his watch Daniel was surprised at how quickly time had passed. It was already later than the time Dr. Frasier had 'recommended' that Ed go to bed.

'Well, that settles that,' though Daniel, stretching as he stood. "I think maybe we should call it a night. Janet would rip me a new one if she thought I was putting one of her patients 'in distress.'"

Ed gave a tired smile as he stood as well. Though he wouldn't say it he was rather glad that Daniel was leaving. Not only was he really tired, but he also had a lot to sort through. First and foremost was what he was going to tell these people in the meeting tomorrow morning. Second, he needed to start trying to figure out what went wrong in the Gate.

But as Daniel left and Edward settle in, he hadn't made it much farther than the thought, 'Wonder what Al would say…' before his eyelids were slowly drawn closed and he fell into a deep sleep.

**A/N: Ok! The details! If you can figure out my other pen name on here, you will have my pen name for my account at DeviantArt. On that account are two images that serve as illustrations and, if you are able to figure them out, **_**clues**_** to another story some of you are reading. Here are the clues to the other story and account:**

**The story is a crossover.**

**The story is Roy/Ed (sorry to you guys that offends, but if it's any consolation I don't intend to do that with this story unless enough people want it).**

**I accidentally made the first line of summary of both these stories almost identical.**

**A-Ed (Love ya Roy!)**

**So, can any of you follow the clues to a bigger clue? Will all of you scalp me for being such an idiot? Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


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